It’s about working with the Republic of Ireland players, and helping them become better, nothing more, nothing less.

It’s a part-time gig now, since Keane hitched up with Lambert’s Wanderly Wagon at Aston Villa– that’s Paul, not Eugene. Not that O’Neill seems to mind unduly.

‘Now that he (Keane) is with us, he’s getting (job) offers every day.

There you go,’ noted O’Neill on Tuesday.

Initially wary, O’Neill gradually warmed to the give and take nature of the interrogations over the explosive content of Keane’s latest manuscript.

By the end, he was joshing about being out of the loop.

Even so, despite the forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers, O’Neil knows there is only one show in town this week: Keano – The Sequel.

Perhaps O’Neill is slightly perturbed by the spotlight on the musings of his assistant manager, and his pointed penmanship. If so, he’s keeping schtum.

‘People say is this a distraction? I don’t feel it,’ he insisted.

‘If it wasn’t a book it would be something else. It’s the nature of it in the build-up to matches here. It’s never been any different. So from that viewpoint, to me it’s not a distraction. I haven’t read it.

Away from all the media attention Keane was busy putting the Ireland players through their paces on Tuesday

‘It obviously was going to cause some sort of furore at some stage or another, the very fact he (Keane) put his name to this book would suggest that it's exactly what would happen.

‘It’s there and it doesn't matter. The games are the most important things for us,’ he stressed.

Aware that humour can be a useful shield, O’Neill sought to shift the emphasis. ‘Let’s just say we came here and there hadn’t been a book, there would have been something else, seriously.

‘He (Keane) would have slipped down there on the field and we'd have been talking about that, maybe broken his leg or something like that.

‘There would have been something, there always is,’ he said.

The Republic of Ireland take on Gibraltar on Saturday before facing world champions Germany on Tuesday

O'Neill believes people would be talking about Keane with or without the release of his new book this week

With a legal background, O’Neill is more interested in criminology than sporting chronicles and as of yesterday had yet to see it.

‘I haven’t read it; you may well come back to me in 36 hours if I have a look at it and say “it’s a major distraction” but I’m really comfortable I haven’t read it.’

Keane was offered the chance to manage Celtic having played for the Bhoys back in 2005

As for Keane, he remains in tandem with O’Neill, of whom he writes glowingly in his book, which explains, in part, why he turned down the Celtic managerial job at the tail end of last season.

Keane writes about being ‘all for loyalty’ and how he wasn’t ‘two minutes’ in the job with O’Neill when Celtic chief shareholder Dermot Desmond came knocking.

If the Celtic job offer didn't 'rock my boat' Keane felt a stronger tug of allegiance to the man who offered him the chance to work in Irish football when people were steering clear of him.

He writes how he shares the ‘same ideas’ with O’Neill as to how the game should be played.’

As Keane observes, the two men share many links.

O’Neill managed Celtic, while Keane played there; they both managed Sunderland, both played under Brian Clough, they like American football and even have daughters with very similar names – Alana (O’Neill) and Alanna (Keane).

Keane jokes of the coincidences: ‘That’s why he gave me the job.’

The reality is different. O’Neill sensed Keane’s love for football when they met on the managerial beat in the Premier League, and on the ITV couch, and felt the complex Corkonian could bring passion and drive to the Irish gig.

For Keane, the chance to work as a number two – he says he never had any problem taking orders – and get back into football was too good to ignore.

O'Neill, who has also worked with Keane as a pundit, sensed the former midfielder's love for the game

Yet Keane cannot be serious when he writes about being ‘under the radar a bit’ as Irish assistant manager. Under the radar? C’mon, Roy.

It’s over 23 years since Keane played for the Irish U21s against England in Brentford, the night before the seniors drew 1-1 at Wembley.

He was on the radar then and has never been off it, all beards, bust-ups, books and bookings, since.